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2023 september - rock sound #300 (fall out boy cover) scans

transcript below cut!

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

With the triumphant ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ capturing a whole new generation of fans, Fall Out Boy are riding high, celebrating their past while looking towards a bright future. Pete Wentz and Patrick Stump reflect on recent successes and the lessons learned from two decades of writing and performing together.

WORDS: James Wilson-Taylor PHOTOS: Elliot Ingham

You have just completed a US summer tour that included stadium shows and some of your most ambitious production to date. What were your aims going into this particular show?

PETE: Playing stadiums is a funny thing. I pushed pretty hard to do a couple this time because I think that the record Patrick came up with musically lends itself to that feeling of being part of something larger than yourself. When we were designing the cover to the album, it was meant to be all tangible, which was a reaction to tokens and skins that you can buy and avatars. The title is made out of clay, and the painting is an actual painting. We wanted to approach the show in that way as well. We’ve been playing in front of a gigantic video wall for the past eight years. Now, we wanted a stage show where you could actually walk inside it.

Did adding the new songs from ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ into the setlist change the way you felt about them?

PATRICK: One of the things that was interesting about the record was that we took a lot of time figuring out what it was going to be, what it was going to sound like. We experimented with so many different things. I was instantly really proud. I felt really good about this record but it wasn’t until we got on stage and you’re playing the songs in between our catalogue that I really felt that. It was really noticeable from the first day on this tour - we felt like a different band. There’s a new energy to it. There was something that I could hear live that I couldn’t hear before.

You also revisited a lot of older tracks and b-sides on this tour, including many from the ‘Folie à Deux’-era. What prompted those choices?

PETE: There were some lean years where there weren’t a lot of rock bands being played on pop radio or playing award shows so we tried to play the biggest songs, the biggest versions of them. We tried to make our thing really airtight, bulletproof so that when we played next to whoever the top artist was, people were like, ‘oh yeah, they should be here.’ The culture shift in the world is so interesting because now, maybe rather than going wider, it makes more sense to go deeper with people. We thought about that in the way that we listen to music and the way we watch films. Playing a song that is a b-side or barely made a record but is someone’s favourite song makes a lot of sense in this era. PATRICK: I think there also was a period there where, to Pete’s point, it was a weird time to be a rock band. We had this very strange thing that happened to us, and not a lot of our friends for some reason, where we had a bunch of hits, right? And it didn’t make any sense to me. It still doesn’t make sense to me. But there was a kind of novelty, where we could play a whole set of songs that a lot of people know. It was fun and rewarding for us to do that. But then you run the risk of playing the same set forever. I want to love the songs that we play. I want to care about it and put passion into what we do. And there’s no sustainable way to just do the same thing every night and not get jaded. We weren’t getting there but I really wanted to make sure that we don’t ever get there. PETE: In the origin of Fall Out Boy, what happened at our concerts was we knew how to play five songs really fast and jumped off walls and the fire marshal would shut it down. It was what made the show memorable, but we wanted to be able to last and so we tried to perfect our show and the songs and the stage show and make it flawless. Then you don’t really know how much spontaneity you want to include, because something could go wrong. When we started this tour, and we did a couple of spontaneous things, it opened us up to more. Because things did go wrong and that’s what made the show special. We’re doing what is the most punk rock version of what we could be doing right now.

You seem generally a lot more comfortable celebrating your past success at this point in your career.

PETE: I think it’s actually not a change from our past. I love those records, but I never want to treat them in a cynical way. I never want there to be a wink and a smile where we’re just doing this because it’s the anniversary. This was us celebrating these random songs and we hope people celebrate them with us. There was a purity to it that felt in line with how we’ve always felt about it. I love ‘Folie à Deux’ - out of any Fall Out Boy record that’s probably the one I would listen to. But I just never want it to be done in a cynical way, where we feel like we have to. But celebrating it in a way where there’s the purity of how we felt when we wrote the song originally, I think that’s fucking awesome. PATRICK: Music is a weird art form. Because when you’re an actor and you play a character, that is a specific thing. James Bond always wears a suit and has a gun and is a secret agent. If you change one thing, that’s fine, but you can’t really change all of it. But bands are just people. You are yourself. People get attached to it like it’s a story but it’s not. That was always something that I found difficult. For the story, it’s always good to say, ‘it’s the 20th anniversary, let’s go do the 20th anniversary tour’, that’s a good story thing. But it’s not always honest. We never stopped playing a lot of the songs from ‘Take This To Your Grave’, right? So why would I need to do a 20-year anniversary and perform all the songs back to back? The only reason would be because it would probably sell a lot of tickets and I don’t really ever want to be motivated by that, frankly. One of the things that’s been amazing is that now as the band has been around for a while, we have different layers of audience. I love ‘Folie à Deux’, I do. I love that record. But I had a really personally negative experience of touring on it. So that’s what I think of when I think of that record initially. It had to be brought back to me for me to appreciate it, for me to go, ‘oh, this record is really great. I should be happy with this. I should want to play this.’ So that’s why we got into a lot of the b-sides because we realised that our perspectives on a lot of these songs were based in our feelings and experiences from when we were making them. But you can find new experiences if you play those songs. You can make new memories with them.

You alluded there to the 20th anniversary of ‘Take This To Your Grave’. Obviously you have changed and developed as a band hugely since then. But is there anything you can point to about making that debut record that has remained a part of your process since then?

PETE: We have a language, the band, and it’s definitely a language of cinema and film. That’s maintained through time. We had very disparate music tastes and influences but I think film was a place we really aligned. You could have a deep discussion because none of us were filmmakers. You could say which part was good and which part sucked and not hurt anybody’s feelings, because you weren’t going out to make a film the next day. Whereas with music, I think if we’d only had that to talk about, we would have turned out a different band. PATRICK: ‘Take This To Your Grave’, even though it’s absolutely our first record, there’s an element of it that’s still a work in progress. It is still a band figuring itself out. Andy wasn’t even officially in the band for half of the recording, right? I wasn’t even officially the guitar player for half of the recording. We were still bumbling through it. There was something that popped up a couple times throughout that record where you got these little inklings of who the band really was. We really explored that on ‘From Under The Cork Tree’. So when we talk about what has remained the same… I didn’t want to be a singer, I didn’t know anything about singing, I wasn’t planning on that. I didn’t even plan to really be in this band for that long because Pete had a real band that really toured so I thought this was gonna be a side project. So there’s always been this element within the band where I don’t put too many expectations on things and then Pete has this really big ambition, creatively. There’s this great interplay between the two of us where I’m kind of oblivious, and I don’t know when I’m putting out a big idea and Pete has this amazing vision to find what goes where. There’s something really magical about that because I never could have done a band like this without it. We needed everybody, we needed all four of us. And I think that’s the thing that hasn’t changed - the four of us just being ourselves and trying to figure things out. Listening back to ‘Folie’ or ‘Infinity On High’ or ‘American Beauty’, I’m always amazed at how much better they are than I remember. I listened to ‘MANIA’ the other day, and I have a lot of misgivings about that record, a lot of things I’m frustrated about. But then I’m listening to it and I’m like ‘this is pretty good.’ There’s a lot of good things in there. I don’t know why, it’s kind of like you can’t see those things. It’s kind of amazing to have Pete be able to see those things. And likewise, sometimes Pete has no idea when he writes something brilliant, as a lyricist, and I have to go, ‘No, I’m gonna keep that one, I’m gonna use that.’

On ‘So Much (For) Stardust’, you teamed up with producer Neal Avron again for the first time since 2008. Given how much time has passed, did it take a minute to reestablish that connection or did you pick up where you left off?

PATRICK: It really didn’t feel like any time had passed between us and Neal. It was pretty seamless in terms of working with him. But then there was also the weird aspect where the last time we worked with him was kind of contentious. Interpersonally, the four of us were kind of fighting with each other… as much as we do anyway. We say that and then that myth gets built bigger than it was. We were always pretty cool with each other. It’s just that the least cool was making ‘Folie’. So then getting into it again for this record, it was like no time has passed as people but the four of us got on better so we had more to bring to Neal. PETE: It’s a little bit like when you return to your parents’ house for a holiday break when you’re in college. It’s the same house but now I can drink with my parents. We’d grown up and the first times we worked with Neal, he had to do so much more boy scout leadership, ‘you guys are all gonna be okay, we’re gonna do this activity to earn this badge so you guys don’t fucking murder each other.’ This time, we probably got a different version of Neal that was even more creative, because he had to do less psychotherapy. He went deep too. Sometimes when you’re in a session with somebody, and they’re like, ‘what are we singing about?’, I’ll just be like, ‘stuff’. He was not cool with ‘stuff’. I would get up and go into the bathroom outside the studio and look in the mirror, and think ‘what is it about? How deep are we gonna go?’ That’s a little but scarier to ask yourself. If last time Neal was like a boy scout leader, this time, it was more like a Sherpa. He was helping us get to the summit.

The title track of the album also finds you in a very reflective mood, even bringing back lyrics from ‘Love From The Other Side’. How would you describe the meaning behind that title and the song itself?

PETE: The record title has a couple of different meanings, I guess. The biggest one to me is that we basically all are former stars. That’s what we’re made of, those pieces of carbon. It still feels like the world’s gonna blow and it’s all moving too fast and the wrong things are moving too slow. That track in particular looks back at where you sometimes wish things had gone differently. But this is more from the perspective of when you’re watching a space movie, and they’re too far away and they can’t quite make it back. It doesn’t matter what they do and at some point, the astronaut accepts that. But they’re close enough that you can see the look on their face. I feel like there’s moments like that in the title track. I wish some things were different. But, as an adult going through this, you are too far away from the tether, and you’re just floating into space. It is sad and lonely but in some ways, it’s kind of freeing, because there’s other aspects of our world and my life that I love and that I want to keep shaping and changing. PATRICK: I’ll open up Pete’s lyrics and I just start hearing things. It almost feels effortless in a lot of ways. I just read his lyrics and something starts happening in my head. The first line, ‘I’m in a winter mood, dreaming of spring now’, instantly the piano started to form to me. That was a song that I came close to not sending to the band. When I make demos, I’ll usually wait until I have five or six to send to everybody. I didn’t know if anyone was gonna like this. It’s too moody or it’s not very us. But it was pretty unanimous. Everyone liked that one. I knew this had to end the record. It took on a different life in the context of the whole album. Then on the bridge section, I knew it was going to be the lyrics from ‘Love From The Other Side’. It’s got to come back here. It’s the bookends, but I also love lyrically what it does, you know, ‘in another life, you were my babe’, going back to that kind of regret, which feels different in ‘Love From The Other Side’ than it does here. When the whole song came together, it was the statement of the record.

Aside from the album, you have released a few more recent tracks that have opened you up to a whole new audience, most notably the collaboration with Taylor Swift on ‘Electric Touch’.

PETE: Taylor is the only artist that I’ve met or interacted with in recent times who creates exactly the art of who she is, but does it on such a mass level. So that’s breathtaking to watch from the sidelines. The way fans traded friendship bracelets, I don’t know what the beginning of it was, but you felt that everywhere. We felt that, I saw that in the crowd on our tour. I don’t know Taylor well, but I think she’s doing exactly what she wants and creating exactly the art that she wants to create. And doing that, on such a level, is really awe-inspiring to watch. It makes you want to make the biggest, weirdest version of our thing and put that out there.

Then there was the cover of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, which has had some big chart success for you. That must have taken you slightly by surprise.

PATRICK: It’s pretty unexpected. Pete and I were going back and forth about songs we should cover and that was an idea that I had. This is so silly but there was a song a bunch of years ago I had written called ‘Dark Horse’ and then there was a Katy Perry song called ‘Dark Horse’ and I was like, ‘damn it’, you know, I missed the boat on that one. So I thought if we don’t do this cover, somebody else is gonna do it. Let’s just get in the studio and just do it. We spent way more time on those lyrics than you would think because we really wanted to get a specific feel. It was really fun and kind of loose, we just came together in Neal’s house and recorded it in a day. PETE: There’s irreverence to it. I thought the coolest thing was when Billy Joel got asked about it, and he was like, ‘I’m not updating it, that’s fine, go for it.’ I hope if somebody ever chose to update one of ours, we’d be like that. Let them do their thing, they’ll have that version. I thought that was so fucking cool.

It’s also no secret that the sound you became most known for in the mid-2000s is having something of a commercial revival right now. But what is interesting is seeing how bands are building on that sound and changing it.

PATRICK: I love when anybody does anything that feels honest to them. Touring with Bring Me The Horizon, it was really cool seeing what’s natural to them. It makes sense. We changed our sound over time but we were always going to do that. It wasn’t a premeditated thing but for the four of us, it would have been impossible to maintain making the same kind of music forever. Whereas you’ll play with some other bands and they live that one sound. You meet up with them for dinner or something and they’re wearing the shirt of the band that sounds just like their band. You go to their house and they’re playing other bands that sound like them because they live in that thing. Whereas with the four of us and bands like Bring Me The Horizon, we change our sounds over time. And there’s nothing wrong with either. The only thing that’s wrong is if it’s unnatural to you. If you’re AC/DC and all of a sudden power ballads are in and you’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to do a power ballad’, that’s when it sucks. But if you’re a thrash metal guy who likes Celine Dion then yeah, do a power ballad. Emo as a word doesn’t mean anything anymore. But if people want to call it that, if the emo thing is back or having another life again, if that’s what’s natural to an artist, I think the world needs more earnest art. If that’s who you are, then do it. PETE: It would be super egotistical to think that the wave that started with us and My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco has just been circling and cycling back. I remember seeing Nikki Sixx at the airport and he was like, ‘Oh, you’re doing a flaming bass? Mine came from a backpack.’ It keeps coming back but it looks different. Talking to Lil Uzi Vert and Juice WRLD when he was around, it’s so interesting, because it’s so much bigger than just emo or whatever. It’s this whole big pop music thing that’s spinning and churning, and then it moves on, and then it comes back with different aspects and some of the other stuff combined. When you’re a fan of music and art and film, you take different stuff, you add different ingredients, because that’s your taste. Seeing the bands that are up and coming to me, it’s so exciting, because the rules are just different, right? It’s really cool to see artists that lean into the weirdness and lean into a left turn when everyone’s telling you to make a right. That’s so refreshing. PATRICK: It’s really important as an artist gets older to not put too much stock in your own influence. The moment right now that we’re in is bigger than emo and bigger than whatever was happening in 2005. There’s a great line in ‘Downton Abbey’ where someone was asking the Lord about owning this manor and he’s like, ‘well, you don’t really own it, there have been hundreds of owners and you are the custodian of it for a brief time.’ That’s what pop music is like. You just have the ball for a minute and you’re gonna pass it on to somebody else.

We will soon see you in the UK for your arena tour. How do you reflect on your relationship with the fans over here?

PETE: I remember the first time we went to the UK, I wasn’t prepared for how culturally different it was. When we played Reading & Leeds and the summer festivals, it was so different, and so much deeper within the culture. It was a little bit of a shock. The first couple of times we played, I was like, ‘Oh, my God, are we gonna die?’ because the crowd was so crazy, and there was bottles. Then when we came back, we thought maybe this is a beast to be tamed. Finally, you realise it’s a trading of energy. That made the last couple of festivals we played so fucking awesome. When you really realise that the fans over there are real fans of music. It’s really awesome and pretty beautiful. PATRICK: We’ve played the UK now more than a lot of regions of the states. Pretty early on, I just clicked with it. There were differences, cultural things and things that you didn’t expect. But it never felt that different or foreign to me, just a different flavour… PETE: This is why me and Patrick work so well together (laughs). PATRICK: Well, listen; I’m a rainy weather guy. There is just things that I get there. I don’t really drink anymore all that much. But I totally will have a beer in the UK, there’s something different about every aspect of it, about the ordering of it, about the flavour of it, everything, it’s like a different vibe. The UK audience seemed to click with us too. There have been plenty of times where we felt almost more like a UK band than an American one. There have been years where you go there and almost get a more familial reaction than you would at home. Rock Sound has always been a part of that for us. It was one of the first magazines to care about us and the first magazine to do real interviews. That’s the thing, you would do all these interviews and a lot of them would be like ‘so where did the band’s name come from?’ But Rock Sound took us seriously as artists, maybe before some of us did. That actually made us think about who we are and that was a really cool experience. I think in a lot of ways, we wouldn’t be the band we are without the UK, because I think it taught us a lot about what it is to be yourself.

Fall Out Boy’s ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ is out now via Fueled By Ramen.

#the cover is so funny. like theyre cute but that is genuinely bug angle. that is bugs under a rock angle. THEYRE ALREADY SHORT KINGS #fall out boy #pete wentz #patrick stump #andy hurley #joe trohman #time capsule #read the charts #ANYWAY GO HERE. GO READ HERE. BECAUSE I SPENT A LONG TIME TRANSCRIBING EVEN THO TRNASNCRIBING SUCKKSSS #i looped the spell soundtrack like 5 times and got jusmpscared by track9 every time. and then i put on smfs<3 #patrick's comments about the mythologising of fob lore is so interesting #listen baby i know ur fed up and it's not ur fault but u have to understand. the story of ur band is on some genuine fanfic ass other level #the way they talk about neal avron is sooo funny #imagine being producer for this young band. and theyre brilliant but theyre also twentysomethings(derogatory)#also the way pete talks abt swift. lol. also why does he answer the q when patrick was the one in the studio lol???#ALSO also. pete being afraid of british ppl (valid and true)#and patrick pretty much taking to the uk like a duck to water (also valid and tru) is sooo funny #i rlly liked this interview i wiiiiish i got the bundle w the photobook and whatever but i was way too late :(((((((((

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softnsquishable · 7 months

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Thanks to this lovely post, I have been able to transcribe the entirety of the new Rock Sound magazine interview with Pete and Patrick. Find the entire transcript below the cut!

WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE

WITH THE TRIUMPHANT ‘SO MUCH (FOR) STARDUST’ CAPTURING A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF FANS, FALL OUT BOY ARE RIDING HIGH. CELEBRATING THEIR PAST WHILE LOOKING TOWARDS A BRIGHT FUTURE. PETE WENTZ AND PATRICK STUMP REFLECT ON RECENT SUCCESSES AND THE LESSONS LEARNED FROM TWO DECADES OF WRITING AND PERFORMING TOGETHER.

You have just completed a US summer tour that included stadium shows and some of your most ambitious production to date. What were your aims going into this particular show?

Pete: Playing stadiums is a funny thing. I pushed pretty hard to do a couple this time because I think that the record Patrick came up with musically lends itself to that feeling of being part of something larger than yourself. When we were designing the cover to the album, it was meant to be all tangible, which was a reaction to tokens and skins that you can buy and avatars. The title is made out of clay, and the painting is an actual painting. We wanted to approach the show in that way as well. We’ve been playing in front of a gigantic video wall for the past eight years. Now, we wanted a stage show where you could actually walk inside it.

Did adding the new songs from ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ into the setlist change the way you felt about them?

Patrick: One of the things that was interesting about the record was that we took a lot of time figuring out what it was going to be, what it was going to sound like. We experimented with so many different things. I was instantly really proud. I felt really good about this record but it wasn’t until we got on stage and you’re playing the songs in between our catalogue that I really felt that.It was really noticeable from the first day on this tour - we felt like a different band. There’s a new energy to it. There was something that I could hear live that I couldn’t hear before.

You also revisited a lot of older tracks and b-sides on this tour, including many from the ‘Folie à Deux’-era. What prompted those choices?

Pete: There were some lean years where there weren’t a lot of rock bands being played on pop radio or playing award shows so we tried to play the biggest songs, the biggest versions of them. We tried to make our thing really airtight, bulletproof so that when we played next to whoever the top artist was, people were like, ‘oh yeah, they should be here.’ The culture shift in the world is so interesting because now, maybe rather than going wider, it makes more sense to go deeper with people. We thought about that in the way that we listen to music and the way we watch films. Playing a song that is a b-side or barely made a record but is someone's favorite song makes a lot of sense in this era.

Patrick: I think there also was a period there where, to Pete’s point, it was a weird time to be a rock band. We had this very strange thing that happened to us, and not a lot of our friends for some reason, where we had a bunch of hits, right? And it didn’t make any sense to me. It still doesn’t make sense to me. But there was a kind of novelty, where we could play a whole set of songs that a lot of people know. It was fun and rewarding for us to do that. But then you run the risk of playing the same set forever. I want to love the songs that we play. I want to care about it and put passion into what we do. And there’s no sustainable way to just do the same thing every night and not get jaded. We weren’t getting there but I really wanted to make sure that we don’t ever get there.

Pete: In the origin of Fall Out Boy, what happened at our concerts was we knew how to play five songs really fast and jumped off walls and the fire marshal would shut it down. It was what made the show memorable, but we wanted to be able to last and so we tried to perfect our show and the songs and the stage show and make it flawless. Then you don’t really know how much spontaneity you want to include, because something could go wrong. When we started this tour, and we did a couple of spontaneous things, it opened us up to more. Because things did go wrong and that’s what made the show special. We’re doing what is the most punk rock version of what we could be doing right now.

You seem generally a lot more comfortable celebrating your past success at this point in your career.

Pete: I think it’s actually not a change from our past. I love those records, but I never want to treat them in a cynical way. I never want there to be a wink and a smile where we’re just doing this because it’s the anniversary. Thai was us celebrating these random songs and we hope people celebrate them with us. There was a purity to it that felt in line with how we always felt about it. I love ‘Folie à Deux’ - out of any Fall Out Boy record that’s probably the one I would listen to. But I just never want it to be done in a cynical way, where we feel like we have to. But celebrating it in a way where there’s the purity of how we felt when we wrote the song originally, I think that’s fucking awesome.

Patrick: Music is a weird art form. Because when you’re an actor and you play a character, that is a specific thing. James Bond always wears a suit and has a gun and is a secret agent. If you change one thing, that’s fine, but you can’t really change all of it. But bands are just people. You are yourself. People get attached to it like it’s a story but it’s not. That was always something that I found difficult. For the story, it’s always good to say, ‘it’s the 20th anniversary, let’s go do the 20th anniversary tour,’ that’s a good story thing. But it’s not always honest. We never stopped playing a lot of the songs from ‘Take This To Your Grave’, right? So why would I need to do a 20-year anniversary and perform all the songs back to back? The only reason would be because it would probably sell a lot of tickets and I don’t really ever want to be motivated by that, frankly.

One of the things that’s been amazing is that now as the band has been around for a while, we have different layers of audience. I love ‘Folie à Deux’, I do, I love that record. But I had a really personally negative experience of touring on it. So that’s what I think of when I think of that record initially. It had to be brought back to me for me to appreciate it, for me to go, ‘oh, this record is really great. I should be happy with this. I should want to play this.’ So that’s why we got into a lot of the b-sides because we realized that our perspectives on a lot of these songs were based in our feelings and experiences from when we were making them. But you can find new experiences if you play those songs. You can make new memories with them.

Pete: We have a language, the band, and it’s definitely a language of cinema and film. That’s maintained through time. We have very disparate musical tastes and influences but I think film was a place we really aligned. You could have a deep discussion, because none of us were filmmakers. You could say which part was good and which part sucked and not hurt anybody’s feelings, because you weren’t going out to make a film the next day. Whereas with music, I think if we’d only had that to talk about, we would have turned out a different band.

Patrick: ‘Take This To Your Grave’, even though it’s absolutely our first record, there’s an element of it that’s still a work in progress. It is still a band figuring itself out. Andy wasn’t even officially in the band for half of the recording, right? I wasn’t even officially the guitar player for half of the recording. We were still bumbling through it. There was something that popped up a couple times throughout that record where you got these little inklings of who the band really was. We really explored that on ‘From Under The Cork Tree’.

So when we talk about what has remained the same…I didn’t want to be a singer, I didn’t know anything about singing. I wasn’t planning on that. I didn’t even plan to really be in this band for that long because Pete had a real band that really toured so I thought this was gonna be a side project. So there’s always been this element within the band where I don’t put too many expectations on things and then Pete has this really big ambition, creatively. There’s this great interplay between the two of us where I’m kind of oblivious, and I don’t know when I’m putting out a big idea and Pete has this amazing vision to find what goes where. There’s something really magical about that because I never could have done a band like this without it. We needed everybody, we needed all four of us. And I think that’s the thing that hasn’t changed. - the four of us just being ourselves and trying to figure things out. Listening back to ‘Folie’ or ‘Infinity On High’ or ‘American Beauty’, I’m always amazed at how much better they are then I remember. I listened to ‘MANIA’ the other day. I have a lot of misgivings about that record, a lot of things that I’m frustrated about. But then I’m listening to it and I’m like, ‘this is pretty good.’ There’s a lot of good things in there. I don’t know why, it’s kind of like you can’t see those things. It’s kind of amazing to have Pete be able to see those things. And likewise, sometimes Pete has no idea when he writes something brilliant, as a lyricist, and I have to go, ‘No, I’m gonna keep that one, I’m gonna use that.’

On ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ you teamed up with producer Neal Avron again for the first time since 2008. Given how much time has passed, did it take a minute to reestablish that connection or did you pick up where you left off?

Patrick: It really didn’t feel like any time had passed between us and Neal. It was pretty seamless in terms of working with him. But then there was also that weird aspect where the last time we had worked with him was kind of contentious. Interpersonally, the four of us were kind of fighting with each other…as much as we do anyway. We say that and the myth gets built bigger than it was. We were always pretty cool with each other. It’s just that the least cool was making ‘Folie’. So then getting into it again for this record, it was like no time had passed as people but the four of us got on better so we had more to bring to Neal.

Pete: It’s a little bit like when you return to your parents’ house for a holiday break when you’re in college. It’s the same house but now I can drink with my parents. We’d grown up and the first times we worked with Neal, he had to do so much more boy scout leadership, ‘you guys are all gonna be okay, we’re gonna do this activity to earn this badge so you guys don’t fucking murder each other.’ This time, we probably got a different version of Neal that was even more creative, because he had to do less psychotherapy.

He went deep too. Sometimes when you’re in a session with somebody, and they’re like, ‘what are we singing about?’, I’ll just be like, ‘stuff’. He was not cool with ‘stuff’. I would get up and go into the bathroom outside the studio and look in the mirror, and think ‘what is it about? How deep are we gonna go?’ That’s a little bit scarier to ask yourself. If last time Neal was like a boy scout leader, this time, it was more like a Sherpa. He was helping us get to the summit.

Pete: The record title has a couple of different meanings, I guess. The biggest one to me is that we basically all are former stars. That’s what we’re made of, those pieces of carbon. It still feels like the world’s gonna blow and it’s all moving too fast and the wrong things are moving too slow. That track in particular looks back at where you sometimes wish things had gone differently. But this is more from the perspective of when you’re watching a space movie, and they’re too far away and they can’t quite make it back. It doesn’t matter what they do and at some point, the astronaut accepts that. But they’re close enough that you can see the look on their face. I feel like there’s moments like that in the title track. I wish some things were different. But, as an adult going through this, you are too far away from the tether, and you’re just floating into space. It is sad and lonely but in some ways, it’s kind of freeing, because there’s other aspects of our world and my life that I love and that I want to keep shaping and changing.

Patrick: I’ll open up Pete’s lyrics and I just start hearing things. It almost feels effortless in a lot of ways. I just read his lyrics and something starts happening in my head. The first line, ‘I’m in a winter mood, dreaming of spring now’, instantly the piano started to form to me. That was a song that I came close to not sending to the band. When I make demos, I’ll usually wait until I have five or six to send to everybody. I didn’t know if anyone was gonna like this. It’s too moody or it’s not very us. But it was pretty unanimous. Everybody liked that one. I knew this had to end the record. It took on a different life in the context of the whole album. Then on the bridge section, I knew it was going to be the lyrics from ‘Love For The Other Side’. It’s got to come back here. It’s the bookends, but I also love lyrically what it does, you know, ‘in another life, you were my babe’, going back to that kind of regret, which feels different in ‘Love For The Other Side’ than it does here. When the whole song came together, it was the statement of the record.

Aside from the album, you have released a few more recent tracks that have opened you up to a whole new audience, most notably the collaboration with Taylor Swift on ‘Electric Touch’.

Pete: Taylor is the only artist that I’ve met or interacted with in recent times who creates exactly the art of who she is, but does it on such a mass level. So that’s breathtaking to watch from the sidelines. The way fans traded friendship bracelets, I don’t know what the beginning of it was, but you felt that everywhere. We felt that, I saw that in the crowd on our tour. I don’t know Taylor well, but I think she’s doing exactly what she wants and creating exactly the art she wants to create. And doing that, on such a level, is really awe-inspiring to watch. It makes you want to make the biggest, weirdest version of our thing and put that out there.

Then there was the cover of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’, which has had some big chart success for you. That must have taken you slightly by surprise.

Patrick: It’s pretty unexpected. Pete and I were going back and forth about songs we should cover and that was an idea that I had. This is so silly but there was a song a bunch of years ago I had kind of written called ‘Dark Horse' and then there was a Katy Perry song called ‘Dark Horse’ and I was like, ‘damn it’, you know, I missed the boat on that one. So I thought if we don’t do this cover, somebody else is gonna do it. Let’s just get in the studio and just do it. We spent way more time on those lyrics than you would think because we really wanted to get a specific feel. It was really fun and kind of loose, we just came together in Neal’s house and recorded it in a day.

Pete: There’s irreverence to it. I thought the coolest thing was when Billy Joel got asked about it, and he was like, ‘I’m not updating it, that’s fine, go for it.’ I hope if somebody ever chooses to update one of ours, we’d be like that. Let them do their thing, they'll have that version. I thought that was so fucking cool.

Patrick: I love when anybody does anything that feels honest to them. Touring with Bring Me The Horizon, it was really cool seeing what’s natural to them. It makes sense. We changed our sound over time but we were always going to do that. It wasn’t a premeditated thing but for the four of us, it would have been impossible to maintain making the same kind of music forever. Whereas you’ll play with some other hands and they live that one sound. You meet up with them for dinner or something and they’re wearing the shirt of the band that sounds just like their band. You go to their house and they’re playing other bands that sound like them because they live in that thing. Whereas with the four of us and bands like Bring Me The Horizon, we change our sounds over time. And there’s nothing wrong with that either. The only thing that’s wrong is if it’s unnatural to you. If you’re AC/DC and all of a sudden power ballads are in and you’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to do a power ballad’, that’s when it sucks. But if you’re a thrash metal guy who also likes Celine Dion then yeah, do a power ballad. Emo as a word doesn’t mean anything anymore. But if people want to call it that, if the emo thing is back or having another life again, if that’s what’s natural to an artist, I think the world needs more earnest art. If that’s who you are, then do it.

Pete: It would be super egotistical to think that the wave started with us and My Chemical Romance and Panic! At The Disco has just been circling and cycling back. I remember seeing Nikki Sixx at the airport and he was like, ‘Oh, you’re doing a flaming bass? Mine came from a backpack.’ It keeps coming back but it looks different. Talking to Lil Uzi Vert and Juice WRLD when he was around, it’s so interesting, because it’s so much bigger than just emo or whatever. It’s this whole big pop music thing that’s spinning and churning, and then it moves on., and then it comes back with different aspects and some of the other stuff combined. When you’re a fan of music and art and film, you take different stuff, you add different ingredients, because that’s your taste. Seeing the bands that are up and coming to me, it’s so exciting, because the rules are just different, right? It’s really cool to see artists that lean into the weirdness and lean into a left turn when everyone’s telling you to make a right. That’s so refreshing.

Patrick: It’s really important as an artist gets older to not put too much stock in your own influence. The moment right now that we’re in is bigger than emo and bigger than whatever was happening in 2005. There’s a great line in ‘Downton Abbey’ where someone was asking the Lord about owning this manor and he’s like, ‘well, you don’t really own it, there have been hundreds of owners and you are the custodian of it for a brief time.’ That’s what pop music is like. You just have the ball for a minute and you’re gonna pass it on to somebody else.

We will soon see you in the UK for your arena tour. How do you reflect on your relationship with the fans over here?

Pete: I remember the first time we went to the UK, I wasn’t prepared for how culturally different it was. When we played Reading & Leeds and the summer festivals, it was so different, and so much deeper within the culture. It was a little bit of a shock. The first couple of times we played, I was like, ‘Oh my God, are we gonna die?” because the crowd was so crazy, and there was bottles. Then when we came back, we thought maybe this is a beast to be tamed. Finally, you realize it’s a trading of energy. That made the last couple of festivals we played so fucking awesome. When you really realize that the fans over there are real fans of music. It’s really awesome and pretty beautiful.

Patrick: We’ve played the UK now more than a lot of regions of the states. Pretty early on, I just clicked with it. There were differences, cultural things and things that you didn’t expect. But it never felt that different or foreign to me, just a different flavor…

Pete: This is why me and Patrick work so well together (laughs).

Patrick: Well, listen; I’m a rainy weather guy. There is just things that I get there. I don’t really drink anymore all that much. But I totally will have a beer in the UK, there’s something different about every aspect of it, about the ordering of it, about the flavor of it, everything, it’s like a different vibe. The UK Audience seemed to click with us too. There have been plenty of times where we felt almost more like a UK band than an American one. There have been years where you go there and almost get a more familial reaction than you would at home.

Rock Sound has always been a part of that for us. It was one of the first magazines to care about us and the first magazine to do real interviews. That’s the thing, you would do all these interviews and a lot of them would be like ‘so where did the band’s name come from?” But Rock Sound took us seriously as artists, maybe before some of us did. That actually made us think about who we are and that was a really cool experience. I think in a lot of ways, we wouldn’t be the band we are without the UK, because I think it taught us a lot about what it is to be yourself.

Fall Out Boy’s ‘So Much (For) Stardust’ is out now via Fueled By Ramen.

#fall out boy #fob #patrick stump #pete wentz #rock sound #so much for stardust #so much (for) stardust #rock sound issue 300 #fueled by ramen

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sibelin · 11 months

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OKAY SO, last night was a good show. it's clear that Depeche Mode knows how to throw a tour and, from the setlist to the performances, everything is perfected to be the most engaging and fun time for everyone in the audience. i was a bit grumpy for the first few songs (i'll explain) but then it started raining mid-Sister of Night and it really felt like everything was coming into place. i sang, clapped, did everything i could to make this evening fun which i think worked for a bit so i'm still glad i went! i was very lucky (or more like i waited 8 hours) to be placed near the central stage so i got to see Dave and Martin closely for the few songs they did there, including Waiting for the Night, one of my fave from Violator. we didn't get Home on the setlist but we got a Question of Lust so yay for more Black Celebration! (i mean...we got Stripped too. she (the song) is the moment.)

Overall, i'm glad i got to see Depeche Mode. if you worry about the show/performance, know that they're better than ever.

now for the downside : people were HORRIBLE. the crowd was obnoxious, mean and uninterested in the show. it's legit the first time i've ever seen an opening band so pissed off at the crowd. literally no one moved. no one clapped. it was just me and a bunch of teenagers that i can't thank enough for making the show more tolerable with how joyful they were during the whole thing. during depeche mode, i got pushed, stared at and yelled at just for wanting to dance a little during the catchy songs. that's why i always choose the pit!! come on, why go there if it's to stand and stare without energy. i also heard people saying younger generations weren't real fans because they haven't seen them enough (before complaining that all new music is bad™ and about sex lmao. what are you doing at a dm show old conservative people). i've heard people telling that goths were out of place here. i've seen others trying to cheat and grudge to be nearer to the stage. like how have we come to this??? isn't it supposed to be a fun thing we all do together?? shouldn't we all sing and dance and have fun?

at the end, i had to leave the crowd during the encore because i suddenly felt my heart beating fast and my hands started shaking. i knew i couldn't count on people aorund me if i fainted so i went to security and then got to see Never let me down again and Personal Jesus from afar. it was probably dehydration and... just me being tired for waiting eight hours in line.

i don't think i'll ever go to a stadium show again, it's not my kind of experience nor my kind of crowd.

#the merch was such a scam too lmao #50€ for a shirt are you kidding me #i won't post pictures because mine are bad but if you want to see them send me a message :)#long post

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alexturne · 1 year

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My experience at the show at Spektrum Arena, Norway, 30th april 2023 ❤️

THIS WAS THE BEST FUCKING CONCERT EVER.

I loved the person who'd done a list of highlights/thoughts and here's mine. It helps me remember what the fuck even happened 😂

SO! I'd been looking so much fucking forward to this show, and it just meant so much to me. They've been my favourite band since 2005 and I've never had the chance to see them before. And it was just the most wholesome experience. That's the best way i can describe it. I'd expected to feel super emotional and cry my eyes out, but I was just happy. Perfectly and superbly and absolutely HAPPY! Blessed to be there and to get to experience being in the same room as my favourite band and sing their songs with them. I was so so so so so happy and kept smiling and recording to have everything to relive later, and they were in a great mood and they sounded INCREDIBLE and Alex was such a little sweetheart. The most adorable man on the planet!!!

I can't describe the endless happiness i felt in my heart getting to sing along at the top of my lungs to my favourite songs, to watch these guys I've been admiring for almost two decades and finally see them with my OWN TWO EYES LIKE FUCK! And watch them play and interact and Alex being so happy and chipper, and getting to watch them do their thing fucking expertly.

And being in a room of other people who share that joy was just amazing. All i want is to do it all again. It was perfect, everything I ever wanted, exactly what I'd been expecting. I'd hoped for a different setlist, but who fucking cares! It was amazing and I wouldn't trade anything for the world.

SO! Highlights and rambly thoughts incoming!

FLUORESCENT ADOLESCENT!!!!!!! I SCREAMED

Other highlights for me were teddy picker, suck it and see, mirrorball and body paint. I was genuinely blown away by how astoundingly beautiful mirrorball is and i got so emotional thinking back to when the video dropped and i was up crying at 1am and how we all shared it and it was just 😭😭 flashlight moment here also

R u mine and dancefloor fucking SLAP!! They're just sosososoos good and fun and they sound awesome!!

I FREAKED OUT SEING THE GUITARS!!!!!

In general i thought the audio was really good!! Alex's voice sounded incredible and the band played exquisitely!! The sound in the arena wasn't muddled at all and it wasn't so loud everything was drowned out. also the big screens are so pretty??? the big circle one ofc but also the others, the colour grading is superb and my photos dont do it justice at all! i loved watching when the circle would create an infinite image of circles and alex's face in the middle

I was the only one standing up and dancing in my entire section during brianstorm but i was too busy rocking out to care

He said "hellooooo... I'm over here... By the piano!" after the lights had gone down and he'd moved there in the dark, it was the most adorable thing ever. His voice was all small and smooth and cute and jazzy, like the lounge singer he is. Could so easily imagine him in a dark jazz club somewhere sweet talking everyone from behind his piano

His voice is higher in real life!!! Someone said it and it's so true!! Sounded so much like his older self

He was in such a great mood! So happy and excited to be there and he kept saying little things to us, saying "so many rockers gathered under one roof, Oslo!!"

During the big solo in body paint he went around to all his bandmates and played with them all, giggling and smiling and it was ADORABLE. And the solo itself was SO LONG AND COOL AND AWESOME !! He just kept playing!!!! AND he also did the piano thing at the same time! And before he started playing the solo he did a little headnod to himself

He did the bowling bit during pretty visitors!!! and celebrated himself for landing an imaginary strike

The crowd was a little dead, very much just TikTok people and dads with their little kids. At least in my area. Might've been better down on the floor tho

Before they went on during the preshow playlist the crowd did a big wave all around the arena!

There was a flashlight show during four out of five! and there was the red blinking lights and a slow ending!!

It was literally the most wholesome experience!!! I was smiling the whole time, so happy just to see them having fun and playing and being happy. It was exactly everything I wanted it to be

Except for the fact that they didn't play From The Ritz or Perfect Sense 😔

The lights and the mirrorballs were so pretty!!! People screamed for it!!! They had two! the one in the ceiling and the one on the set and they used that one during wanna be yours

At the end of R U Mine? Alex went up to Matt and they had a little chat and giggle and I caught it on the big screen and Alex looked like Humbug and taotu for a second and then his smile was so pretty and I'm !!!!! 😭😭😭😭🥰❤️❤️🥰❤️ Most adorable man in existence!!!!

And the end Alex didn't want to leave the stage and he kept blowing kisses and waving even after everyone else had gone and the lights had been turned off, he just kept waving 😭 i sent him so many kisses back i just couldn't help myself

He kept saying "Terrific!" and "Excellent!!! Really, excellent!!" and he mentioned he was having such a nice time!!

HIS VOICE DURING DO I WANNA KNOW WAS SOME OF HIS BEST VOICE WORK THIS ENTIRE TOUR.!!!

When they returned for the encore everyone was applauding and screaming and he tapped his heart and did a little shy gesture, like waving his hands at us like "oh stop it you" VERY CUTE

HIS VOICE IS SO BEAUTIFUL I CANT BELIEVE HOW GOOD HE SOUNDED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE THING

It was really a lot seeing him irl with MY OWN TWO EYES on stage, and then on the two big screens and ALSO in the big circle screen!! That's a lot of Alex Turner at once and it made me emotional!!

He wore the red scarf when he entered the stage but took it off immediately after sculptures

They did a slow piano bit before why'd you only call me when you're high!

Also the low-key suck it and see intro, the slow solo in crying lightning and slow solo intro for don't sit down too!!! Very cool!!!

His hair was a big gorgeous mess at all times!

Toms guitar malfunctioned during the Arabella solo so Alex and the lights were just going crazy to nothing and i snorted at the view on the big screen of Tom not playing 😂

Star treatment!! "What doya ~*MEAN*~ you've never seen blade runner?" Alex did such a pretty high note and he looked so impressed with himself afterwards. wiped "sweat" off his brow too. also this song is so beautiful??? they do it so well live

Even if the upbeat rockier songs are my absolute favourites, the thing that really hit me at the show was that they really fucking excel at creating beautiful slow moments. The slower songs and the lights and Alex's voice and everything coming together - no one can fucking beat them at that. That's fucking growth, gentlemen. And it was glorious to behold.

Four out of five is so fucking funky when they play it like that! Alex's voice was GORGEOUS ON IT! It reminded me so much of a star wars soundtrack for some reason, like a super cheesy 80s one. also davey played bongos!!!!???

They played the new version of 505 which was great (even if i prefer the punch of the old one) but it was amazing still! Alex played guitar on the Vox Starstream which was a super treat and he seemed to enjoy himself immensely!

He played legit looked like he was going to smash his guitar for a second but then it was just the baseball thing after body paint. wouldn't have put it past him if he'd smashed it tho! his energy was through the roof!

DONT SIT DOWN IS A FUCKING BANGER AND IT KICKS MY ASS. Alex was stomping all over the stage to the beat and rocking out so hard!! It sounded SO GOOD and it's still one of my absolute favourite live tracks of theirs !! It's so fucking cool, the beat is so deep and heavy and the guitars are back it up and !!!! I WAS SCREAMING FOR THIS ONE!!! Lived up to all of my expectations!!

Also they did teddy picker and i was so happy!!!!!!!! Was rocking out so hard!!! I love that one and it works so well live and !!!! LOVED IT!!! Even if i knew it would probably be at the expense of Ritz

Sculptures REALLY PACKS A PUNCH!!!!!! ITS SO POWERFUL!!!! I was so sad that it was over so soon, we need it twice in the setlist!

THE CROWD WAS SO LOUD! Mostly during the popular songs BUT STILL IT WAS A JOY and I'm so proud so many people love this little band

Alex did a big wave your arms bit during pretty visitors and it was so much fun!

Also even if Arabella is kinda overplayed at this point it's still such a live banger!!! And they obviously have a lot of fun playing it

Alex did a really pretty note during Teddy Picker "that says that we ~*AREEEEE*~ defenders.." very cooooool loved the energy of this performance 🥰

Between don't sit down and why'd you only call me Alex sat down at the piano (see earlier point 😭) and played a little interlude where he sang "that was don't sit down cause i moved your chaaaaaiiirrrr oslo and now is why.. you only call me when you're hiiiigghhh...." very cool and smooth and jazzyyyyy

He generally said a lot of little things in between songs, saying OSLO!! all the time and little comments

The big mirrorball was lowered during big ideas and it was very pretty! He did the sit down slam thing on the piano! he looked very serious for a lot of the song!

He did a lot of spreading his arms and posing, lots of running hands through his hair, lots of stomping and waddling around on stage.. all in all very cute behaviour!!

#my show #this is long and rambly and barely coherent because i just got home after traveling all day and i havent processed anything and i might cry #any second but bare with me man #i need to get this out before i forget everything #also ill keep editing and adding stuff to this #and try to post more videos and stuff

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yridenergyridenergy · 1 year

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Phalaris Vol.II - KBS Hall day 2 [2023/05/06] live report

Setlist

Schadenfreude

Uroko

Mouai ni shosu

Devote my life

Hibiki

Utsutsu, Bouga o Kurau

Eddie

GRIEF

Beautiful Dirt

Otogi

The Perfume of Sins

Encore

Red… [em]

JEALOUS

T.D.F.F.

Sustain the Untruth

Revelation of mankind

Today was so much better!

First of all, shimote treated me way better than the central section did. I could even see most of the members. We were fused at the hips, but it was more brotherly, we really moved as a whole!

Shinya wore white, Die had his criss-cross leather tights+black shorts+white and black tunic top, Kaoru wore the same bourgeoisie-like outfit as in Yokosuka and Kyo wore a black Milkboy T-shirt with everything else the same as yesterday. What Toshiya had was way too many layers: the black lace veil, which stayed on for quite a few songs, the black tight shorts below the long lace skirt, but the top consisted of the black lace cover, a thick black cloak (short) that had a huge hood draped back onto his shoulders, and a black lace dress shirt underneath.

The setlist followed the order of Phalaris a bit more. Schadenfreude set the mood, as everyone shouted all the: "Ikedomo jigoku ka" and the song grows in intensity of course, ending with the feeling of helpless accomplishment. 13 followed right after and Kyo was so into it. When singing about getting rid of everything, today he gestured literally at ripping off his face and throwing it behind himself with a swing/momentum of his entire body. This time, the crowd kind of felt awkward, like we were supposed to sing the backups to Kyo's "Never die"s with Die, but we refrained. Also, quite sure Kyo changed the lyrics of "not taking the path that was handed to me" to something about us?

We were not even three full songs in but Toshiya was smiling so much and spinning, stepling side to side during Uroko. Kyo seemed 100% satisfied with the crowd, even though he hyped us up and demanded more either way.

Mouai ni Shosu was also super dancey. It wasn't clear if Kyo wanted us to sing along to the "Mijime na no ka" parts or with Toshiya's backup "The pride and prejudice", we were so confused hahah. But that didn't faze Kyo.

He didn't let us up during Devote my life, we could not catch any breath. We had to sing so much, especially the "Zankoku na" segments. Kyo did one single moment of crazy dance with his hands up after one of those segments.

At the beginning of Hibiki, Toshiya is so dramatic when he gestures a wide circle with his arm after striking one note on his bass, and then another.

In Utsutsu, Bouga o Kurau, this time Kyo came prepared. He demanded that we sing so many verses out of it, even the chants, and one whole paragraph from what I remember, high pitches and all. And then, once the fateful "nananananananaze nanda" part came, he sang the first, then said something, which allowed people to then pick up at the right moment for the second part, finally! Kyo was so proud and happy, his smile showed all his teeth! The song ended and, in the dark, before the next song started, he said one word that I didn't understand, but it must have been either: "Finally" "Got it" or "Success"

By the way, did I ever mention how Kyo comes uo to the edge of the stage with a finger over his crazy smile when doing the quiet "Utsutsu o kurai, warau hitomi", which he whimpers? Kyo's range was so perfect tonight, he did them all, except the high-pitched tracks in Otogi.

At some point in one song, Die passed on one side of Toshiya's mic stand to reach the shimote area, while Toshiya was on his way to Die's usual side of the stage, taking the left of his mic stand. Toshiya had his back to me, but I saw Die pout/smirk, so I assume they had some kind of eye contact as they crossed path. And then, Die stayed in shimote with the shimote members still in kamite even as the next song started.

Again, I'll never tire of Kyo's senseless wide clapping, like a brainless pantomime in the quieter part of GRIEF. This time, his hand sometimes hit the mic by accident. He gets really into that song, as if it was written yesterday. Screaming while making the mic cord whip widely, almost falling to his knees. Oh and Toshiya came up to us with his middle finger up when we had to sing either a "fuck you" or "motherfucker" hah.

I don't know why, but Beautiful Dirt had special confetti-like lights projected onto the huge background poster. We were made to sing a lot of the "Saikou no baraado o okurou".

During the pause moment in the middle of Otogi, Toshiya did this move where he joined both hands together above his head, then folded his elbows to bring them almost to his forehead, following which he smoothly moved them theatrically to his right. It was so extra, but he pulled it off of course!

One thing I also forgot to mention is that yesterday and today as well, at least Toshiya and Die went to play in front of Shinya. Today, it was especially during Jealous, and Kaoru went at some point during the show too. It was my first time today realising how Shinya plays some hard moves during Ningen wo Kaburu.

The Perfume of Sins again began with Kyo whimpering and growling, then suddenly leaning backward with his boney mic stand to growl the Nose, Eyes and Ears with such power. By the end of the series, he is swinging his head side to side to give it his utmost all. Then, later in the song, he goes mad when singing about being more ripened and ends the song with a cry, from what I remember.

The encore was filled with such energy. Everybody except Shinya was all smiles or taunting pout or smirk.

Red… [em] was unexpected for me, but there was mostly calm from the audience. I guess they didn't want to be on the nose, but I hate that this song is bathed in purple light. Anyway, everybody played and sang this song intensely, with much emotion. In this song I think and in another one, the whole stage turns dark and a white spotligt illuminates Toshiya only, from the left side, while he plays a bit of a solo, casting his huge shadow in the background.

JEALOUS followed and everybody in the crowd got happy. This time, Kyo sang with more passion, but he mainly played on our own enthusiasm, letting us sing several parts. There was a spotlight from the top of the stage onto Kaoru for his solo. They all seemed a bit more into it.

The next two songs went as usual, very intense from the perspective of the crowd hah. The members moved across the stage. Die seemed happy in general and almost proud of our energy. Kaoru taunted us so much and he did the "wowowowowow" when he distorted his guitar in Sustain the Untruth, nodding as well. Kyo went left first, then right, where he did a bit of his favourite dance.

When calling out the Last Song, man, it's been a while since I heard Kyo use every last claw in his voice like that, asking us if we could go on more and more. Then, when the first notes of Revelation of mankind started, he slyly said: "Shine--" (Die~)

This time, I suppose because of everything thar had preceded it, Revelation of mankind was a decent ending song. Everybody gave up their last particule of energy. When it ended, Kyo clapped with us and, with his hand held high and a wise smile on his face, he mouthed a big "bye bye" before walking off. Shinya stoicly stepped onto Kyo's crate to throw away 4-5 sticks. Kaoru, Toshiya and Die then threw picks and a towel each across the entire stage. They all had smirks at the bare minimum. Kaoru left with a hand or finger to his heart, clearly touched by our love.

We demanded a second encore very shortly after he departed, but the techs/roadies switfly began taking away the remaining picks on the mic stands, then somebody removed the additional water bottles from Kyo's table and we understood that the band would not return. It was weird because at first, when the roadie distributed the bottles and towels from his basket before the show began, he had initially only set down Kyo's two bottles with straws, but he went back with approximately six more to add neatly beside Kyo's bottles after checking backstage. But in the end, Kyo did not spray anybody. He did throw one of his own bottles without a care, without looking, into the crowd during Eddie, I think. And damn, just lile us, he was dripping sweat and maybe even spit from early during the show.

The ending instrumental is Kamuy, by the way. I guess that's the only way we're getting it hah.

#Dir en grey #Phalaris #PhalarisII #live report #tour23 Phalaris vol II #Kyoto

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yellowloid · 1 year

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my experience at am's show (accor arena, paris, first night - 09/05/2023)

SOOOOOOO since a lot of people have done this and i want to write down as many things as i can about the concert so that i don't forget them i've decided to make this post and keep in mind i'm writing this running on four hours of sleep and a cappuccino BUT i'm currently sitting in a very pretty parisian café, chilling and waiting for my train and it's all very aesthetic i feel like the main character of a chick-flick movie. also drowning in post-concert depression but that's another story

so now that we've set the mood let's get to the actual writing bc this post isn't gonna make itself and i still have ~five hours of waiting to do and a whole lot of things to say so let's go

(also disclaimer: this is gonna be very rambly i'm so sorry i'm just emotional)

• so we got to the arena at around 6:30pm bc we had assigned seats, and entrance was a whole lot less chaotic than i'd expected (which was good) + basically the place was almost empty bc it was so early, it really only started to fill up later and it was REALLY full only by the time inhaler was halfway through their set

• can't say anything about inhaler bc i know exactly zero (0) of their songs but i think they were nice and i actually feel like diving into their music a bit now bc some songs were pretty good

• and then once inhaler was done it was showtime!!!!!!!! i felt like i could DIE!!!!!!!!

• the moment they went up on stage i felt literal butterflies......... i just couldn't believe they were real, in the flesh, like they're ACTUALLY real they exist they're REAL!!!!! and we were breathing the same air and i was just so fucking mindblown by that concept i was fr having a moment

• setlist was the usual, i didn't get cornerstone NOR perfect sense (some of my all time am favourites.......) and tbh i still haven't forgiven them (HIM) for that like wtf boys. wtf. i get why they would decide not to play perfect sense but why wouldn't they play cornerstone LITERALLY a fan favourite and a classic smh (jk i forgive them but only bc they're cute 😔)

• also i got star treatment sooooo i mean i can't really complain can i. absolute magical experience, that song

• another thing about the setlist: they kept playing little melodies in between songs and i kept getting FOOLED bc every time it felt like they were going to debut a new song (hello you......jet skis........) but no i was just clowning real hard

• fo example at some point they played this random melody and i was like wtf and then they did nothing with it and just played high so yeah they were being sooo silly and goofy (i wanted to bite them)

• also the crowd was so ???? idek how to describe it bc during some songs they were so hyped (not only the most popular ones from am or 505; they even did a mosh pit during pretty visitors which was......okay i guess not really a song to mosh to but you do you paris keep speaking your truth). but then they were so dead during the car songs.... some girls next to us literally used mirrorball and big ideas to fucking sit down and have a break and that was so offensive tbvfh. meanwhile i was there vibing and singing along to the angsty car tunes and i genuinely was like "why am i the only one that's popping my fucking pussy rn". literally this

• diwk and sculptures are THE most powerful songs ever like hearing them live is a cathartic experience fr. diwk bc of how iconic it is, sculptures bc it's just so unique and they're so fucking powerful my ass was literally shaking. sculptures as an opener after the "countdown" intro they do is just The Right Choice TM like it just makes so much sense. it was born to be an absolutely epic opener and we love to see that. and well, diwk is a classic for a reason. the whole arena lost their shit when they hit the first notes, the floor was TREMBLING it was crazy

• the arabella fuckup moment was still so !!!!!!!! when he screamed FUCK bc he messed up the lyrics i honestly didn't even realise it was a mistake at first lmao considering just a couple of days earlier there was the "but it just doesn't fucking matter" moment or whatever he said during that part (i think it was one of the german shows? or amsterdam? idk i don't remember sjfhwhs). the point is, sometimes he's just silly and changes random lyrics and it all happened so fast one could have easily believed it was on purpose nsjcnennc but that just tells you how good they are. if you're able to make even a mistake sound so good and iconic then you're just so !!!!!!!!! yknow.

• also i heard people saying he was annoyed, a bit like during one of the amsterdam gigs, mostly bc of the arabella fuckup. but that's?? so not true?? like yeah he sounded super frustrated during that bit and his yelled FUCK is proof and rewatching that moment i feel so bad for him i wanna give him a hug </3, but for the rest of the night he was in a normal mood. pretty chill if you ask me

• apart from THE star treatment moment....... someone already mentioned it here but YEAH after the song ended he just went and whispered "it's the star treatment............" with the lowest saddest most heartbroken voice and i swear i heard my heart crack and crumble in a million pieces

• (btw yes he once again opened star treatment with "i just wanted a jet ski for the moat")

• he also sounded a bit sad and lost in his own thoughts during the closing part of iwby which reminded me of the same moment at lowlands 2022 and yes my heart broke once again

• but for the rest he was in a pretty standard mood!!! not overly chatty (when is he ever jskfke), didn't interact with the crowd that much but that's routine. just your regular banter: "what a night" "what a wonderful/splendid [can't remember???] night" and then before either pretty visitors or dancefloor he introduced the song like "it's [name of the song]... get down......GET DOWN" and that was just sooooo silly. in case it wasn't clear i was foaming at the mouth the whole time

• then during dancefloor he went "dirty dancefloors and dreams of naughtiness....AAAAAAAA"

• also he didn't really interact with the others members apart from asking the crowd to give it up for matt (cute bffs <3) and then at some point (i think during body paint) him and jamie were doing their thing. scissoring with their guitars

• after he was done scissoring with jamie he also went and hopped on matt's platform and then went towards nick too but didn't do anything lmao. i was hoping for the usual hand-around-shoulder action but no. okay you do you king

• at some point either nick or jamie fucked up a note and it was so audible and he gave them one of his Iconic Glares TM IT WAS SO FUCKING FUNNY

• btw he didn't speak that much french, i was expecting much more - i'd even say he spoke less french than he did at other french gigs over the years which ???? okay lmao. he just said basic stuff, yknow, the usual "bonsoir paris", "merci", and then at some point he said "incroyable" with, i must admit, a pretty good pronunciation. tbh it was so cute and yes my heart did a lil !!!!! yeah why do you ask

• also he sounded EXACTLY like he does in recordings and studio versions which is INSANE. he has such a wide vocal capacity and his voice is sososoSO powerful, at its best fr. he sounded so damn good and perfect and he's so fucking talented and i might sob bc who gave him the fucking right

• but at the same time i see why people were saying they thought his voice sounded a bit higher - he has moments when you can hear the "ghost" of his younger voice and it's honestly so cute

• but overall it's just crazy and remarkable how much he sounds like the studio versions. there's literally no difference. none at all. he's just THAT fucking good

• and the others too they were so !!!!! honorable mention to matt bc the way that man drums is absolutely mesmerising

• and then well..... can't really ignore the elephant in the room can we. they're all so insanely attractive it's not even funny they looked so good and alex was GLOWING. i was in awe. he has such a powerful aura - commanding and serious yet with a lightness and gentleness to him that you just can't help but stare at him the whole time. he's so charming and fascinating and ARGH literally breathtaking. hypnotising. never getting over him

• long story short when they finished he was sending big smiles and kisses at the whole crowd and the screaming and applause just kept going and going and and and. the whole concert went by so fast it was so intense and i couldn't believe it was already over

• i didn't want to go i didn't want to leave i never wanted to leave i wanted to stay there and do it all over again

• so now it's been two days since the show and hours since i started drafting this post.... and i'm already back home and i MISS THEM SO MUCH. i missed them from the very moment they disappeared backstage and the post-concert depression is so real i literally feel like i left a piece of my heart in paris. i miss them i miss HIM sososo much 💔

• i'm so sorry i'm being such a dramatic bitch but that's just who i am 😔✊️

• overall the whole experience felt like a fucking fever dream and i still can't believe it really happened. it was so magical and special and they were so perfect and ugh i just really fucking love them. i love them so much and i'm so grateful i got to see them and experience first-hand something so beautiful. i didn't sob during the show (tbh i thought i would) but i might do it now bc i'm feeling so nostalgic and emotional and </3 i'm a mess i love them so much there's nothing else i can say it's just That. simply that <3

i think i'll post some pics/videos but not many bc you can hear me screaming and singing my heart out + i was shaking + mostly it looks like i recorded using a potato so skckwjcej but yeah expect me to post something. idk what but definitely something

that's about it for now, but i'll try to add more things if i remember something else along the way!! 💖

#SO SORRY THIS IS A RAMBLING MESS LMAO #BUT YEAH OF YOU GOT HERE THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR #I JUST STILL CANT BELIEVE I SAW MY BABYGIRLS #💖💖💖💖#arctic monkeys #accor arena #alex turner #matt helders #jamie cook #nick o'malley #my show #ramblings

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the1975attheirverybest · 9 months

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I'm seeing on twitter some very angry people from Malaysia. They are complaining because they paid for the show and didn't have it, that other people can be somehow punished and that this doesn't effectively changes anything. Also, they say that It makes It more dificult to have international artists doing shows there.

Do you have an opinion on these issues?

Yeah, so, with regards to not getting the show they paid for, this was the show. They got it. This was it. It’s not the show they thought they were going to see, but this is the 1975. That’s what they do. And that was only possible show for them to put on under the circumstances. Just because it wasn’t a 12 song setlist (usual average length of a festival show) doesn’t mean it wasn’t real or thought out. In fact, it was more real and thought out that most other gigs.

Put yourself in the bands shoes. They got banned from Dubai for a similar thing. They’ve spoken up about queer rights several times in the US. Written songs about it. Did we really think that they would show up, take money from homophobes, smile and wave and act like all is well? It was clear from Matty’s speech that he weighed his options. And he had the fans in mind as he thought it through. He acknowledged that the fans are not a reflection of the government and that they’re probably progressive and perhaps some of them are even queer themselves. But he couldn’t do it in good faith. And that’s what the bands spirit is. That’s what they do. Who they are. What they stand for.

The “it won’t change anything” argument doesn’t really make sense to me, tbh. Just because a person doesn’t have direct political influence, doesn’t mean that they should just go with whatever their oppressive governments tell them to do. In fact, it’s precisely BECAUSE of their privilege that the 1975 SHOULD do this. Because they can get away with it in ways that Malaysian queer people can’t. When you have power that other people don’t, what kind of person would you be if you didn’t use it to amplify marginalized voices? Nothing was going to happen to the fans, they’re Malaysian, they know this. I’m speaking as an Arab myself. An Arab who lived in Dubai (where the 1975 is also banned). I won’t insult their culture or identity by saying that they’re 100% the same, but their governments oppression is the same as the oppression that I have seen. They all have the same source (Saudi Arabia) and operate under the same assumptions. They wouldn’t prosecute fans for coming to the show at which this happened.

I think gestures of solidarity, and symbolic acknowledgements are important. Because this wasn’t JUST about Malaysia and it’s government. This is for every queer fan who feels threatened and marginalized right now. It’s important that they feel seen and supported by their artists. Matty is constantly talking about how it’s an artists role to “signpost towards utopia.” We are a long, long ways away from a utopia, but I think treating people with equal dignity and respect is the bare fuckin minimum. They were fulfilling their role as artists by doing this. Sometimes, the consequences are worth it even when they don’t lead to direct, overnight change in government policy. If we only ever attempted change when we were absolutely certain of the effect it was going to have and the success of our desired result, then nobody would ever risk anything. This all or nothing mentality pervades our culture these days. Especially online and especially by young people. Just because the US is not going to turn into a perfect country with free healthcare and education and anti-racist policies doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still try. Stay engaged. Vote. Just because someone made a mistake that proved them to be human, flawed, and less than perfect, doesn’t mean they can’t still be a good person. If we keep thinking “it’s either a whole win or I don’t want it” then we won’t get very far.

It’s not gonna make it harder for international artists to come to Malaysia. Corporate mouth pieces who choose cash over political and moral value are still going to agree to perform. It just won’t be the 1975 (or artists like them).

As a Muslim: homophobia is not part of our religion or our culture. Oppression is not a cultural convention that is worthy of respect or reverence. Again, I’m arab. I know about colonialism. Yes, westerners, especially white men, do have a long track record (as long as history itself) of disrespecting our culture and religion, denigrating our identities, forcing their beliefs on us in the name of “spreading democracy” and “enlightening us” and “bringing us civilization.” The result of that is a fractured cultural and historical identity. A lot of damage to our religions and traditions. To our languages even. What the 1975 did today was NOT that. If you think that God wants you to oppress other because of their sexuality, or if you think that your marginalization of queer people is something that people should respect and uphold, then the 1975’s show today was for you. Hope you got the message.

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steinwayandhissons · 10 months

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right so i finally have time to sit down and gather my thoughts - today and yesterday were so chaotic and im running on 4 hours of sleep after doing my grade 8 music theory exam today back in london (probably not a good idea in hindsight but oh well) - sorry in advance for the super long post

oh my god this was one of the most surreal, incredible experiences of my life - it was my first ever gig (other than classical music concerts which are a very different experience!) so everything seemed a bit alien (like the waiting times between acts - that shits long af)

first of all, why was the journey 100x more stressful than the exam i had that morning? i hate british trains - a couple of close calls, a cancelled one 😡 but luckily we made it, bought the merch (poster + tshirt - they were extortionate but im a sucker so i let them take my money) and started queuing (also stressful)

we got in and rushed to the front - we were pretty close, but not right at the barrier, had to ask to swap places with some tall people cos im short and waited

finally the mysterines came on, i listen to their music so i knew the songs they played - they were amazing, but the crowd was kinda dead at that point. the hives were also incredible, you could tell they’d been in showbusiness for a while - the crowd interaction and stage presence was crazy and the crowd definitely responded more enthusiastically

then the main course: it was wild as soon as they walked out the crowd went berserk - during the whole concert they were deafening we were all screaming the lyrics and the riffs i could barely hear the monkeys at times, even during the ‘less popular’ songs it was still very loud (although less loud than the popular ones🤨)

a really cute moment in crying lightning after the solo when he mouthed ‘i just made that up’

they played ritz!!!! oh man singing the dadadadadas back to them was unreal, he got really into the instrumental bit, also at the end of the song he swung his guitar like a golf bat

during 4/5 he blew a kiss to the crowd after singing ‘the only time that we stop laughing is to breathe or steal a kiss’ and gestured to jamie like a gentleman who went centre stage for the outro

there was also a little beef going on next to us where a lady and her obnoxious son started pushing people cos they spilled their drinks, but they got reported and left 😬

mardy bum and fluo made me tear up, i was just basking in the feeling that i was there seeing them in person after all this time following the setlists and each of the concerts virtually and I WAS ACTUALLY THERE at one of the shows like the ones i tracked

there was a beautiful piano interlude before high - i think he was singing “im fucking warmed up now” with a little giggle it was very cute also his voice 🙏 ascending to the heavens

perfect sense was PERFECT! he got out the acoustic and me and my sister were both sobbing my heart couldn’t take it - i posted a video where you can definitely hear a sniff and some cry-singing

when the mirrorball came down during mirrorball i literally lifted my hands and praised the gods for whoever was responsible for creating this man and this band, and they kept it for 505 (he did the neck thing!)

oh my god the body paint outro was fucking insane i was literally standing there in awe as they went off

also after they left before the encore i was terrified they weren’t going to play sculptures cos that’s what happened at i think the last gig so me and my sister were literally manifesting and praying and THEY DID!!!! in the video i took you can literally hear me saying holy shit and celebrating (should i post it and do a voice reveal… also if i do post it you can hear me singing along at the beginning it sounds so bad i swear normally i can sing in tune but i literally could not hear myself it was so powerful)

finally dancefloor and r u mine were bangers, crowd went crazy again

it was funny that you could instantly recognise the tiktok fans by the difference between when 505 played vs mirrorball for example. there was also this tall guy who was standing next to us and slowly started migrating in front of us during the course of the show and he was just there didn’t sing along to any songs didn’t put his arms in the air - the contrast between me screaming all the lyrics to pretty visitors (yes that was my time to shine) and him just standing there 🤷‍♀️ like that’s embarrassing at this point could never be me

also regarding the people who didn’t like how they couldn’t sing along because alex slows the tempo this is absolutely fucking false - he plays with the tempo slightly towards the ends of songs or the ends of sections, which was actually very tastefully done but other than that the tempo was very constant - some songs like teddy picker and pretty visitors were actually even faster than their studio versions

also i was on the tube on my way back and overheard this guy say to someone else that he looked younger than alex (he was 43) - this guy was balding, with greying hair and an almighty dad bod and all i remember thinking is ‘not with that hairline you dont’

but oh man all of them were showstopping - matt truly is an agile beast on the drums, jamie’s solos always slapped, nick was perfect as usual - i was sad i couldn’t see him much from the other side but his blue trousers 🥰, of course alex 1000000% delivered, he was so commanding and mesmerising to watch, despite not having the ostentatious and flamboyant stage presence of say the hives - there was just something inwardly spellbinding and otherworldly about him

anyway i was completely knackered (standing tickets are no joke!) and i had to get up in less than 5 hours for my exam - was completely dead 👍 but this was a complete and utter dream, id been so excited for over 8 months to see them in person. anyways i never want to see another human being ever again god there were enough people there to last a lifetime

also a bit of a ps - it was a bit weird travelling into london again today, i was listening to my playlist on spotify with headphones and every time an am song came up, i felt a bit sick to my stomach, but not in a bad way, it was just because i was hit with the feeling that nothing could ever compare to seeing them live, and the revelation of ‘oh shit i saw them play this song yesterday irl’ kind of rattled me and the fact that it’ll be a few or even more years when they release a new album and tour again and ill never be able to witness this again until then when im so much older was crushing…..

now that it’s over -> yay post concert depression

again sorry for the long post 😭 xxx

#arctic monkeys #the car tour #emirates night 1 #so sorry this is like a fucking essay #alex turner #matt helders #jamie cook #nick o malley

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captainhunnicutt · 20 days

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Tagged by @pomegranate and @mashbrainrot: 6 albums I’ve been listening to a lot lately! Plus one track from each that I’m especially fond of:

1). Kevin Devine - "Put Your Ghost to Rest"

For a number of years, I went up and down the east coast following Kevin - in a completely normal and sane way. Seriously. He became a fast friend and still is to this day. When he released his second full length album, that's when I financially had the resources to start travelling to see his shows. This album was his fourth release, and I was lucky enough to see him on release day. The song "Just Stay"... it made me cry the first time I heard it. "She said it's pretty, but you hate yourself, I can hear it clear as day. I said I sing like this, it sounds worse than it is... I'm okay, okay?" When I heard those lyrics, I just lost it - for him. He's such a good soul and deserves so much good. There was a period of about five years where I didn't see him, and when I finally was able to see him again, the hug he gave me before his set said so much. When he got up on stage that night, he said something like "I'm changing the setlist on a whim. Someone is here tonight who I didn't expect to see, and I know she loves this song. This is for her," and he played this.

2.) Eisley - "The Valley"

During the height of the Long Island emo scene, Jesse Lacey shoved Eisley down everyone's throats. It's the only good thing he ever did (dude ended up being the biggest piece of shit ever), besides legitimately pushing a guy off of of me at a party. The guy was being a real fucking nightmare and Jesse came in swinging, and honestly I appreciated it. Anyway. Eisley. They are hauntingly beautiful. The first time I played an Eisley song for Robby, his response was "I feel like crying," and to this day I don't know if that was a compliment or not.

3.) Manchester Orchestra - "Where Have You Been?"

The best tour I ever followed was Brand New, Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra. I went to 7 shows on that tour, and every night was a like a g'damn religious experience. Don't listen to people who try to shoot it down, follow the band. Spend the money. Travel from one end of the country to the other just to see your favorite bands play live. You won't regret it. "Where Have You Been," was one of the songs where Brand New, Kevin and Manchester all played together on stage. When the yelling "GOD MY GOD MY GOD, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" starts, you could hear a pin drop. I have goosebumps thinking about it.

4.) Death Cab for Cutie - "Narrow Stairs"

No big thoughts on this one. I just really love anything Death Cab, and this one has been getting played most recently. "Plans" is a close second. That opening bassline of "I Will Possess Your Heart?" Seriously? Perfection.

5.) Kings of Leon - "Come Around Sundown"

I'm sorry. My music taste seems to have frozen to anything before 2010. I think because there's so many good memories tied directly to musicians, bands and songs. I remember when this album dropped. I remember it leaking and my community of friends all losing our g'damn minds. A lot of KoL songs found their way into "The Blacklist," which was a great show too.

6.) Incubus - "Morning View"

Incubus has been this strange constant since I was a teenager. My sophomore year boyfriend introduced me to them as we got high in his basement. Very cliche. They were also the first band I ever followed on tour, and are all very sweet and down to earth guys. They are about to release a reimagined version of this album, and... I have mixed feelings about what I've heard. The original is far superior.

Tagging @bardengarde, @kejfeblintz, @valenshawke, @veryliteralsin, @lynnsthoughts, @angelt0rres and anyone else that wants to do it, I guess.

#sorry my music taste is stuck in the past #i am old and set in my ways #but please tell me if you enjoy any of these #Spotify

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dwead-piwate-meggers · 1 year

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development & full circle for any of your infamous MCs! also bonus points for any song that you think they’d really nail a cover of if told to add one to the setlist

thank you!!! from the infamous oc ask game

At the moment I only have Kat, so this is for her!

Full circle: What is the first song they ever wrote? Played? What’s the most recent?

First song Kat ever wrote was called Jetsam; it was a metaphor for her home life, feeling like she was always the first thing being tossed overboard. The first song This Providence Relentless ever performed was Bright-Eyed (Dead Inside), about the pressure and the cost of presenting a perfect face to the world. The most recent song is the very popular protest song Hemlock, which generally asserts that maybe we should question the state and not let ourselves be fed poison in order to shut us up, thank you very much (and, yes, it is a reference to Socrates).

Development: How did you come up with your character? Is their design still evolving? How do you think they might develop through the story?

Played the game and then started throwing spaghetti at the wall until something stuck. I think I went through like seven name changes. There are elements of Kat’s design that are in flux (mostly her style, but then, I think having a slightly incoherent style is in character for her, so it may just be what it is). She’s very much disinclined towards leadership (she voted against demoting Seven, and it ended up being the right choice for the band), but with Rowan’s apparent temper, and August being new, she may end up going the introvirtuous route if it stops a total collapse. Or she’ll have a breakdown. Could go either way, really.

Bonus: any song that you think they’d really nail a cover of if told to add one to the setlist

I am SO glad you asked about the cover! It’s absolutely a frenetic version of Bif Naked’s I Love Myself Today. A lot of people think it’s because of the Seven situation, but she actually relates it more to her parents - she started ending their sets with it when Seven was still in the band.

#oc: kat savage #infamous if #infamous oc

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this-is-an-open-letter · 1 year

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Thoughts on the ERAS set list and overall show? What songs would you have added or removed? I can't believe she performed for 3 hours!!!

Overall, from someone who will not likely see the show in its current schedule and just watched everything from very shoty TikTok live's the opening night and will continue to do that, its easily her best tour yet in my opinion. And my opinion comes with the caveat that I've only ever seen 1 tour of hers and while was always aware of Taylor never actively followed much of her career until Red which even then I didn't listen to her unless it was for that specific album (and the albums that followed). So my opinion is absolutely worthless and yet...I will give you my detailed thoughts regarding the tour because I have lots of opinions and thoughts as per usual

Overall my thoughts are just that its the perfect constructed show that only a mad woman like her could put together in such a brilliant way. I mean 44 songs? NUTS, 3 hours and 10 minutes? UNHINGED BEHAVIOUR! and yet its exactly in her wheelhouse to do exactly this.

Where my thoughts keep taking me - the maturity level of the overall show is top notch. Its not gimicky, its not overplayed - she cut a lot of the unnecessary dancing and is just standing there and performing. Which is what everyone paid to see - sing her heart out and add some small choreo here and there.

The stage? The most brilliant stage i've ever seen. The lifting stationary stages in the middle of the diamond that move up and down? So cool - the best is when she's doing Vigilante Shit - the way she's moving up and down vs her dancers - such a cool effect. Mastermind - the floor pattern on the screens with the choreo? So effective it takes that performance to a whole new level.

I know in the past her shows were a lot more story built - like the church moments in Speak Now and I always remember my friend saying while she loved that album she found the concert very kiddish and what comes with age is maturity and for Taylor continued genius, is that every built set moment really came off cool and effective instead of kiddy - which I am so glad.

My overall thoughts on the setlist was that there was definitely songs I would change and yet its the perfect setlist? I don't know how she did that but she did.

I think for me what I didn't want was a Greatest Hits tour and outside of Lover/Folkevermore and Midnights that's exactly what we got. In my perfect world she would've been done with the standard hits that we all know for her, and cater to the fans who would've been happy to hear the none radio play songs - the true deep cuts. So while it worked for some eras some of them I wanted something different.

Lover Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince”-Random choice but also kind of perfect - its more for the opening line that it fits perfectly. “Cruel Summer”- She knew her life depended on her putting this on the set list and she did not disappoint. Why she never chose this as a single I still to this day do not understand. It would've been a massive hit for her. Its on the setlist so we can all scream sing the bridge together as God intended! “The Man”- I get why - its not my fave song on the album - love the message but I've never loved the production. But ma'am she is THE Man. “You Need to Calm Down”- its just a fun song all around so I get why its there. “Lover” -she had to - like she said its just a honest to god love song and no one writes like them she does. Also Lover is a top tier song all together. “The Archer" - this one for me is the one I would've taken out and subbed for Afterglow which to me is an overall better song. However I get why she wanted the Archer - its a very personal song to her. Also a track 5

8/10 Fearless “Fearless “You Belong With Me” “Love Story”

So the Fearless part really got me - as I said before I wasn't actively following Taylor during her early ears - these are all radio play songs so I know them but I have no emotional connection to them and yet this was the most nostalgic part of the show for me. The dress, the band together and song choices - the TWIRL! Even I knew about that! it just got me all in my feels. 10/10 - I know there's other songs people wanted here like Our Song but I'm not a big Fearless fan so I am fine with the setlist.

evermore “Tis the Damn Season” - random - but love it. This is top tier song from the album. “Willow” - I get why it was chosen bc of the visuals - this has to stay as it was the only single from the album. Wonder why it wasn't the opener for the era though - think it would've fit better as the first. “Marjorie” - this one is the most random to me but I LOVE this song, production and vocals on the actual track are a fave. I am assuming for personal nostalgia she added it. “Champagne Problems”- We all knew this was a guarantee, she mentions it in her interview with Zane Lowe, hearing the crowd scream-sing she's FUCKED IN THE HEAD back to her. “Tolerate It”- Its my favourite! - easily in my top 5 songs of all time from her -I feel it was only chosen again because she had a production idea to go with it and honestly? Its fucking perfect, the whole set up with the long table, throwing the glasses and plates off the table, climbing on the table - singing to him and him not caring...its perfect.

9/10

I think IVY belongs in this line up and I would sacrifice Tis The Damn Season for it truthfully.

repuation “…Ready for It?” “Delicate” -just because fans want to be able to scream 1.2.3 lets Go Bitch - its also a track 5. “Don’t Blame Me”-because of the high note - that one always slays the crowd. God Bless her to do that for the 50 shows. “Look What You Made Me Do” - I have never loved this song and what makes it good is its visuals so i get why it was added again because the visuals for this one are unhinged in the best way possible. The use of the stage, the monitors and the dancers - 10/10 on its own.

All of these are not a surprise. I am a little surprised she wanted to repeat these ones specifically because they were heavily featured in her Rep tour which is the most recent one in people's minds. However these were clearly chosen because of that.

I dont even know what I would really add her - Gorgeous and Getaway Car are big fan faves.

7.5/10

Speak Now “Enchanted” - perfect choice IMO if there is only one song

8/10 I literally have no words - how is this only one song! I am assuming its because the clearance on this album hasn't officially come through and she's waiting for that before she can release SN-TV and then hopefully incorporate it into the show. Where? How? I have no idea.

What I would ACTUALLY want is Dear John, we will get it? Not a fucking chance in hell!

Red “22” “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” “I Knew You Were Trouble” “All Too Well (10 Minute Version)” I am so jealous of everyone seeing this live and everyone singing it probably louder than her mic. Ppl complaining about her doing this 10min version - like honestly? OF COURSE she was going too- its a guarantee.

There were 3 guarantee's for this set list - Cruel Summer, Champagne Problems and ATW10

This set list bummed me out the most - I think because I have the most emotional connection to this album I was really hoping she wasn't going to do all the radio play singles....and thats exactly what she did.

We needed Holy Ground - its just a fact. 8/10 - production value and for the OGs the fandom goes so hard for 22 and WANEGBT like obscenely lol

Folklore “Invisible String” - its just cute and sweet “Betty” - I still....do not like this song and would gladly trade it for literally any other song. “The Last Great American Dynasty” - the bit where her and Rebecka face each other - the acknowledgement of I am YOU now - ohhh so good. Certain fans reading this differently...please get off the internet. Its so clearly coded. “August”/ “Illicit Affairs” TO ME August is the song of the Album- its just sonically a perfect song. “My Tears Ricochet” - literally no words “Cardigan” - again this isn't my fave from the album and I am also wondering why she didn't sing the love triangle in order? Feels like that was a given.

9.5/10

The star of this to ME is My Tears Ricochet - the way she walks down the catwalk with her girls behind her and they do nothing but just walk while she pours her heart out - literally chills. its so effective.

1989 “Style” “Blank Space” “Shake It Off” “Wildest Dreams” “Bad Blood” 8/10 - again all expected - this one is a little harder for her to branch out only because SO many of the songs got radio play so this one makes sense to do all those songs. And we've never gotten a full Wildest Dreams - I still don't think we did but we got most of it. I wish she had done Wildest Dreams ala Grammy Museum with the electric guitar, woof that would've been new levels.

Secret Song “Mirrorball” (acoustic)

9/10 - this song is better live than it is on the album which is random but the way she sang it in the Long Pond sessions remains superior.

Debut “Tim McGraw” (acoustic) I....well...Debut I was not present for at all ever but Tim McGraw is such a great song so I like this choice. She cut it in the second show which is ???

9/10

Midnights “Lavender Haze” “Anti-Hero” - I was expecting more detail on this one - like maybe to be the closing track only because its her biggest single of all time, not to mention the worlds biggest single of all time. “Midnight Rain” “Vigilante Shit” - choreo for this one goes off! Obessed with the staging too “Bejeweled” - you knew she was going to do the tiktok dance- a guarantee. “Mastermind” Staging on this one is also perfection - so impressed by it. “Karma” - great closer

10/10 - I mean...no 3am tracks and there's really only one i want from there but much like Dear John - never going to fucking happen lol.

There's a lot from Midnights that I fear she must cover so hopefully that happens.

I am surprised that there are literally zero mashups - so many opportunities for some cool ones.

Costumes are 100/10 - she crushed these all so hard.

Overall the tour, 2 nights in and its a perfect show. I mean the length alone is just unheard of. She didn't overstuff it and she's not over doing herself either. She's out there almost the entire time, she made her choreo less about hitting certain moves and more in-tune with the lyrics - simplified it and kept it fucking classy and sexy.

10/10 for the whole tour overall.

#taylor swift #eras tour #asks

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straightfromthetorturedpoetsdept · 1 year

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Some day, we're going to have to talk about the toxic positivity in the swiftie fandom tbh. 2016 was 7 years ago, please grow up and realize treating taylor with kid gloves and glowing about her like she's perfect is so unhealthy for her and yall.

I'm seeing a lot of swifties have to manage their negative emotions that taylor makes them feel to "fit in" with the fandom and this is so fucking toxic to people just in general. Yall are doing to each other what yall did to taylor, which is demand she be happy all the time for you guys and willing to be around you all the time.

Idk yall, I'm seeing many swifties ask people not to attack them for critiquing taylor, I've seen people try and mitigate the harassment from other swifties they're gunna get for openly talking about how Taylor's capitalistic ways hurt them.

The eras tour marketing is not the first time that she has disappointed fans, the "unique" midnights recordings just happened a few months ago, why are yall paying for vip packages if yall aren't meeting taylor (to stand around in MERCH LINES earlier??? Are yall okay, seriously, ask yourself how much money you're spending on her and what ur getting out of it), working with a child rapist director (that convo got shut down because all her friends were doing it too! Which is not a defense but I digress), her working with Zoe Kravitz and Lena Dunham and Lana del ray gets swept under the rug, her working on a racist murderers film adaptation was ignored and celebrated, there is so much more that she's been doing recently since she turned 30 that are really just gross things to be doing and she deserves to see her fans angry at her, even yelling at her online, because that's the only way she will bother to café about this issues.

Like yall were laughing about her behavior at the grammys like it wasn't the most OUT OF TOUCH THING I've ever seen. Rolling your eyes at a BLACK MAN who is more culturally aware of the financial burden of his own fanbase than you???????????

And you get swifties who just lick her asshole all day long and call you entitled and rude because you're fucking angry at being used FOR MONEY when that has never been Taylor's branding. You act like the people who critique her branding and her actions not aligning are the ones in the wrong when product honesty is like the #1 that consumers look for in a product.

We buy into taylor the artist ourselves precisely because we are so aware of the way she markets herself being unique but we are very aware of the way we support other artists that are purely financial (beyonce, ed sheeran, louis are all artists that I'm well aware they're not in it for the fans, they're in it for either money, fame, or music is their life but taylor is STILL pushing this narrative on tour that she's alllll about the fans.... is she?)

Like, the eras tour is a money grab because tour is always a money grab but the marketing of this particular money grab is that ALL albums would be fairly represented. Did you forget all the setlists taylor Nation posted that included debut ???? And people were actually picking several songs for debut like cold as you was featured ???????? They put out album shirts, highlighting all albums, she talks about it being a journey through "17" years of music and each era, one at a time.

These are conflicting narratives when you don't put debut or speak now in the setlist.

It's just disrespectful. She asks us to be okay with a lot of stuff that she just ignores and doesn't apologize for because she doesn't care about our feelings, she cares only about the money.

And I wish she would just fucking SAY THAT instead pretending like she cares when she doesn't.

And I wish yall would stop attacking other swifties who are gunna expect things to be a certain way when the marketing is telling you that is the way it's gunna be.

For fucks sake, I wish yall got angrier at taylor more often.

#the only thing she understands is money #threatening to not support her music is the only way well be able to get her to acknowledge things #even the way she talks about ticketmaster like she didnt OPT INTO DYNAMIC PRICING HERSELF #makes me infuriated #taylor swift #swifties #the eras tour

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mobiivs · 2 years

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♡

a sticky note that reads happy birthday baby! on top of a wrapped gift; gone are sungho’s usual sloppy strokes (courtesy of being a med intern), replaced with detailed and neat strokes, each character clear to read. when sorin unwraps it she would be faced with the likes of a vinyl, its sleeve decorated beautifully with snapshots of them, some candid while others posed to perfection to showcase how well they look together.

polaroids of course, in typical sungho fashion.

in between the snapshots, again written in his handwriting, sungho and sorin’s story.

there is a card as well, a quirky message on the front but a heartfelt message inside.

hi baby, happiest of birthdays to the most amazing person i know! i love you so much and i’m so glad we get to spend another birthday together. you probably think this entire gift is super cheesy right? ㅋㅋㅋ i didn’t know what to get you that you don’t already have or can get yourself…but i know how much you appreciate little things like this so i made a vinyl for you…or i guess us? i went all over seoul to find this little place! you’ll understand when you listen to it ㅎㅎㅎ i’m sorry i have to work on your special day, but i’ll be done with my shift by the time afternoon rolls around, i promise. i have the entire weekend planned out for us so just do me a favour and finish packing for us? i lost track of time this morning…ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ love you and happy birthday to my best girl ♡

sorin finds the packing list before the present, tripping over an open luggage after a blessed eight hours of sleep—the first she’s gotten since their client from hell stepped through their company’s doors, case finally closed at almost three in the morning. she’d been more than a little motivated to finish the report before d-day to her day; she’s not going to forget her birthday again like she did last year. ( even if sorin can complain enough to inspire a celebration six months late. )

is this growing up, though? it doesn’t feel so different, twenty three to twenty four. the belated growing pains of muddling her way through independence feel almost serendipitous in the summer sun, now that she’s… here. no more panicky new year resolutions looking for reassurance, broken rusty, iron heavy purse strings of her dad’s money, dissipated facades that she’d pulled trying to prove something for the fourteen year old who’d had her life turned upside down. a decade of growing up—not always in the right direction, maybe, too prone for too long to lashing out before she gets hurt, that always shifting sense of transience like nothing’ll ever last, not for someone like her. moonlit bass and months of chipping away at the dreams that’ve crust and sugared over, melting in the heat of her palms as she learns to hold them open instead of fisted close.

so maybe this is growing up, happiness mellow and still sweet under her tongue. the growing she’s got more of in front of her, and her open hands that’ve found someone to hold while she does. perhaps she ought to wait for him to open her present, but he knows by now how she gets impatient. the terrible pun on the card makes her cover her face, softening to read the message inside it. sorin puts the vinyl on and spends a little too long looking at the sleeve, memories of the pictures she remembers taking ( and cringing at the candids of some that she doesn’t ), a setlist of them filling their apartment with the songs he’s chosen for her. a text message seems too little for thanks, but she sends him a mysterious heart as she packs too many of his shirts and too few of her own for the weekend getaway.

the sun shines brightest on the hottest day of summer, like it knows she’s got a year more to get the better of again, like birthday luck on a special day. and sorin’s always said she doesn’t believe in luck, or fate, and all that wishy-washy bullshit. but hey, she’d said the same thing about love once.

BIRTHDAY LUCK & LOVE, EP 2022

#from summer to fall(ING IN LOVE!!!!!!)#sungso playlist makes me 😭#sry ab the rambling on sorin's arc idek if this makes sense but #hpbd best girl 🥳#THANK U BBY 🥺

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theold-ultraviolence · 1 month

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Ah!! I’m so happy you’ve gotten into The Bear! It’s an incredible show and my love for Cousin Ritchie knows no bounds.

You’ll always be my A7X mutual because we share the obsession brain cell 😅

I was absolutely blown away by Matt’s vocals. He sounded beyond incredible and I my jaw actually dropped with the higher notes he was hitting flawlessly, as well as bring his dirty vocals back but actually doing it in a way that wasn’t damaging his vocal cords. The last time I saw them, he was going through all of the perils of his vocal cord damage and I truly thought he’d never recover from it, but I am so so so SO happy that he’s put in the absurd amount of work to rehab his voice and has progressed to a place better than he’s ever been in my opinion. The rest of the band also sounded so clean and crisp and they were so silly on stage -as they usually are.

I nearly cried when they left Jimmy’s vocals in Afterlife and amplified them so we could hear them clearly. The entire arena was screaming with him and it was so emotional😭 I still get full body chills when I think about it.

We did get the Cosmic set list! They closed the show with it and had a bonkers laser show to accompany it. I was completely mesmerized. It truly felt like I was a teen seeing them again when I heard their older songs on the set list. The only thing I wished they differently was have more songs off of either Hail to the King or Nightmare on the set list. One day I’ll hear Planets live 😩

ANYWAY, their lighting was 😙👌🏻 as well as the visuals they had on the backdrops.

Our set list was:

Game Over

Mattel

Afterlife

Hail to the King

We Love You (was very excited to hear this live)

Shepard

The Stage

Roman Sky

Blinded in Chains (VERY excited for this one)

Bat Country

Nobody

Nightmare

Unholy Confessions

Save Me

Cosmic

Bestie, Cousin Richie, I freaking LOVE HIM. For some reason he's giving me grown up!Eddie Munson vibes and it makes me love him even more, he truly stole my heart on that first episode fr fr.

About Matt's vocals, ABSOLUTELY! My show was actually postponed because he caught a throat infection. They made us wait out an hour until someone else came by to announce that they were postponing because Matt was sick, and apparently, he had been taking adrenaline shots to try to get his vocals in place for our show until he realized he just couldn't, which is why they said they waited till the last minute to announce it. And the day right after that, they did perform in Arizona and he sounded terrible - especially in the high notes during Game Over. I was scared that going from canceling a show to performing would damage his vocals even more, but when they did play on the rescheduled show he sounded AMAZING. UGH SPECIALLY DURING WE LOVE YOU! my god. Let me know if you wanna dm so we can share videos of it because the melodic bit he sang during We Love you freaking SENT ME. Longer story longer just to say I agree with you about his vocals 😂

And I feel you about Planets! gahhhhhh I wanted them to play Planets so bad when I saw them live in 2013, I was so sure they would, it's the perfect song for when everyone's already sweaty and pumped up. And I'M SO HAPPY you got to hear those songs live, AH! ROMAN SKY? BLINDED IN CHAINS? SAVE ME!!!! COSMIC!!! it must have been so amazing. The one that most surprised me was Blinded in Chains though, like!! what were the ODDS that they were gonna play that one? Cause everyone was begging for them to play Cosmic but then pulling something older from City of Evil? god-like move. I wish I had been to the show with you!

My setlist was:

Game Over

Mattel

Afterlife

Hail to the King

We Love You

Buried Alive

The Stage

(After The Stage, Synyster Gates played an acoustic guitar solo!)

So Far Away

Nobody

Nightmare

Bat Country

Unholy Confessions

A cover of Astro Zombies by Misfits! (which was a total surprise!! they added it because it was sorta like a Halloween show, they rescheduled on the 27th.)

A Little Piece of Heaven

G + (0)ordinary + (D)death + the walk off with Life is but a Dream

The fact that they played for so long was freaking amazing and I'm totally with you about them sounding so, so good and crisp! Some of my videos caught Johnny's bass SO WELL and it makes me so excited. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say it was the best concert I've ever been to. And the newer songs sounded even more AMAZING live, oh my god. Sorry if this is the longest reply ever but I hadn't talked to anyone about this show in such detail!

#silens-oro #jesus #so sorry for the longest reply ever #but yeah if you wanna share videos of the show I'm so down!!

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theghostpinesmusic · 2 months

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youtube

Wow, so I fell a little bit out of doing these jam posts for a few weeks...but it was for a good reason. Basically, the reason is that I haven't been watching as many jam shows as usual. Orebolo, which is Goose's three-man acoustic side project, played three shows at the Capitol Theater leading up to and over the Super Bowl weekend, and I decided to watch all three of them live.

I love Orebolo a lot, but they tend not to "jam" songs out, per se, because it doesn't fit the acoustic format quite as well, so there weren't any real "highlights" from those shows to share in the way I normally share here. If you're interested in what an acoustic Goose-adjacent trio sounds like, though, this might be a good start for you. I will not be writing 5,000 words about it.

After watching three nights of Orebolo in a row, I took most of last week off, though I did take my first step into Phish's summer 2023 tour, on the heels of rekindling my romance with their music earlier this year by watching their recent New Year's Eve run. I decided to start mid-tour, at the beginning of a seven-night run at Madison Square Garden (because the only places you can see Phish these days are New York City and Mexico, but I digress), with 7/28/23. And it was glorious. This was almost certainly the best Phish show I've ever seen via webcast (i.e., not in person at the venue). It totally blew me away for pretty much the entire show, and the only reason I'm focusing on the "Split Open and Melt" from the second set is because that's all the official YouTube channel shared from the show.

Let me geek out on a macro level briefly, though, before we zoom in to the micro level.

The show (and run) opens with "Evening Song," a short, weird little ditty from the band's most recent album, Sigma Oasis. While most "people" (by which I mean terminally-online fans of the band) have shat on this song since the first time it was played, I love it for what it is and, for a band that has had to continually reinvent their ability to surprise their fans for forty years without the effort to surprise itself becoming a parody, this is a neat, subversive opener call.

The following version of "A Wave Of Hope" is twenty of my favorite minutes of Phish improvisation since COVID. The following jam, out of a great cover of The Talking Heads' "Cities," is a perfect sister piece. We're not even halfway through the first set at this point and I could go home happy. The bluegrass of rare cover "The Old Home Place" segues neatly into a bombasstic (see what I did there?) version of "Free," then we finally get a breather, if a poignant one, with a gorgeous rendition of "Brian and Robert." "Stash" comes next, and even though it stays within the box, it's a really well-played version, with the band gelling wonderfully even if they aren't launching for deep space. "My Soul," a song I feel like I haven't heard in at least ten years, ends the set.

"More," a catchy, hopeful, Beta-Band-ish tune that also catches a ton of hate from "fans" for being any and all of those things, opens the second set. I'll be honest and say that this, like "Evening Song," really only works as a song choice with the right context, but man, that context is present on 7/28, as the brief pop-ish tune leads into a head-spinning near-hour of music that goes: "Ruby Waves" -> "Plasma" > "Simple" > "Mountains In The Mist." I won't weigh in on each of these individually, as the point of this post is ostensibly to talk about what happens after, but suffice to say that the jamming during each of the first three tunes gets more and more jaw-dropping weird and deep until, at one point in the "Simple," I reached that state of jam-listening bliss that I only really manage to get to via Phish shows: where I am simultaneously having the absolute best time listening and can no longer follow the beat of the song. That this suite of tunes lands in "Mist," which is hands-down my favorite Phish ballad, is just perfect setlist-building.

As a fan who loves this band to death but has also found their setlist-building a bit suspect since, uh, 2009, I fully expected this amazing set to end with a few short, tossed-off, supposedly celebratory tunes that nonetheless served more to kill the glorious vibe than anything else. This has, in my opinion, often been the band's way at least up through 2019. They've broken this habit a bit since COVID, though, and fortunately this set ended up serving as a great example of this improvement: post "Mist," instead of "Number Line" or "Show of Life," they immediately launch into "Split Open and Melt," a song whose composition has basically demanded that it be a consistently good, crazy, evil jam vehicle for the band since...1993?

And now we arrive at the point where, admittedly with the help of some mind-altering substances, music melted my entire skeleton and shot it into space.

I've written a lot already, so I'll spare you the song history and blow-by-blow regarding the composed part of the song. Suffice to say it is, to my mind, one of Phish's Phishiest compositions: it includes a little of everything that makes their original songs both great and so weird you might just give up partway through, and knowing that in all likelihood they are going to Summon The Aliens in a few minutes makes listening through it even more fun.

The improv starts at 4:35, and was also the point that, in the moment, I thought to myself "If I'd have known they were going to play 'Split Open and Melt,' I would have taken slightly fewer drugs tonight."

Mike and Fishman continue the rhythm of the song's outro for a bit early on, but Trey and Page immediately depart from it, both playing interlocking but dissonant-sounding melody lines. At 5:05, we are thirty seconds in and there are already multiple, incompatible rhythms happening. I lack the musical knowledge to really describe what's happening here in a technical sense, but Trey is using loops, Page's organ playing gets downright evil, and it feels like my brain is being pulled in two directions at once, but I like it, it makes going insane seem fun.

The laser light rods do not help.

I have a recurring note I sometimes include in my setlists when I'm watching shows as a fun little inside joke (just for myself, because I don't know how to make friends and this is how I cope), and it's to note times when Fishman is particularly bonkers on the drums. The note is "What the fuck is Fishman." The section of this jam that starts at 6:40, when the camera starts zooming in on him, was one of those moments. This is one of those times that, if it was still the 2010s, I would shout "I can't even!"

By 7:20, we have realized that the aliens aren't coming down to Earth because they've been here all along.

Trey asserts himself a bit more directly shortly after this, but only to scare us even more. I'm amazed at the crowd shot at 8:50: these people still look like they're having fun. I'm not sure if my psyche could survive experiencing this from the front row.

By 9:30, one of Trey's droning, heavy, looped riffs has come to dominate the space for me, making this whole thing into a demented mantra, a siren song that melts the wax in your ears and transfixes you while it eats you. Trey decides to play with the octave shifter here because why the fuck not.

Between Page's synths and Trey's completely distorted guitar, there's almost a glimpse of a melody at 10:10, something that almost sounds like "What's The Use?", but it's swallowed quickly by the whirlpool of sonic mayhem and crushed.

You have the sense of an eternal, ageless eye opening and looking at you, incomprehensibly. Are those ghosts wailing? Are you dead?

Nah, it's just a Phish show.

I will say that I honestly worried for anyone in the audience and on psychedelics at 11:20. The combination of the lights and the music are the stuff of nightmares, and I'm watching this with a relatively intact grip on reality.

Now, I of course love Phish jams, and the weirder the better, but I'll admit that when I was watching this for the first time "live," the moment at 12:35 when Fishman returns to the "Split Open and Melt" outro beat, I felt the relief of a man who'd been tossed overboard in a storm and had just found a life preserver to grab onto.

Shortly, everyone follows Fishman's lead and heads back into the song proper, but I love how some of the loops and distortion continue in the background for a bit, a reminder of our narrow escape from The Darkness.

The song's goofy ending, at 13:52, seems especially incongruous here, and made me laugh a lot.

Well, I hope you survived that listen. I had a lot more fun writing a bit more creatively about it and less technically than I usually do, but it felt appropriate for this particular jam.

While I've been off doing other stuff, Goose put out a second jam with their new drummer, so I'll probably cover that next. Maybe tomorrow! Cheers!

#phish #jams #jam bands #music #live music #videos #trey anastasio #tour journal #writing #Youtube

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